New Borrowing Opportunities For Women In Business
Everyone who is a student of the economy knows the importance of small business in this country. One simple fact tells it all – 70% of the jobs in this country are supported by small business. This incredibly important sector of our economy must be nurtured and supported by our government leaders, although it may appear that the government’s historical focus has been heavily weighted towards the remaining 30%, the large corporate sector.
However, with a new administration we may see a new era. Under the Bush administration, the SBA budget was reduced by 30% as was the agency’s staff. Clearly, small business was not Bush’s priority.
President Obama has selected Karen Mills, an experienced businesswoman as his next director of the SBA. Mills, 55, shares some hometown connections with Obama. Her parents, Melvin J. and Ellen R. Gordon, own 80% of the Chicago-based Tootsie Roll Industries of which they are CEO and President, respectively. Also like President Obama, Mills is an alumna of Harvard University with a B.A. in Economics and an MBA. She is ranked by Forbes and Fortune to be among the most powerful and influential women in the United States. Karen Mills’ husband, Barry, is president of Bowdoin College.
In a recent interview she indicated two of her priorities should she be confirmed as the next Director of the SBA. One of her two primary issues, among many others she is interested in, is creating many different types of financial products aimed at serving the varied and diversified needs of the small business owners. She acknowledges that the one-product-fits-all approach that has been the historical way the SBA funds small business is a less effective approach than is needed and she promises to create a number of diverse financial programs designed to suit different small business requirements.
A second major objective she intends to address is supporting women in business. She believes this sector has been grossly undersupported and promises to reach out and support women in business with a proactive program. She further has mentioned the fact that the federal government’s mandate that 5% of all federally funded contracts include minority-owned businesses of which women-owned businesses are a major section, has been grossly unfulfilled. It is her intent to support greater participation assuring and supporting additional women-owned business participation in this program.
It is likely that under the Obama administration the funding will be returned, staffing will increase and we will see the addition of various new financial products as well as a significant effort to support women in business with a proactive funding commitment.
Female business owners get ready, get prepared. It will soon be your turn to get a fair share of the wealth!
